NSW extends triple-A track record

26 September 2018

NSW has had its triple-A credit rating reaffirmed by both Moody’s and S&P rating agencies in September 2018.

Moody’s highlighted the State’s strong financial management, noted that “the state's large and diverse economy will continue to perform well” and that the Government’s investment in record levels of infrastructure, funded in part through the asset recycling strategy, and a low unemployment rate relative to the rest of Australia all contributed to the State retaining a triple-A rating.

S&P referred to the State’s “…wealthy economy, excellent financial management, and exceptional liquidity, as well as our expectation that the state will deliver on its large pipeline of capital spending while maintaining…debt at manageable levels.”

New South Wales is one of only two states in Australia assigned a triple-A rating by both Moody’s and S&P Global Ratings.

The rating measures the State’s creditworthiness – a measure of how risky the State is as a borrower in terms of the expected willingness and capacity to repay any debt on time. A higher credit rating usually means a lower cost of borrowing and better financial market access. Triple-A is the highest possible credit rating available.

Maintaining the triple-A credit rating is a key objective of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2012 introduced by the NSW Government in 2012.